Player Focus: Wanted Man Morata Finally Coupled with The Old Lady

Tuttosport like a pun. Back in May, the Turin-based paper declared the Old Lady to be innaMORATA. She was ‘in love’ with Real Madrid striker Álvaro Morata. The courtship has been long. At least six months. “Morata is a champion and, like all champions, he interests us,” Beppe Marotta, Juventus’ general manager, said in January. “But I believe he is ungettable.”

One of many suitors competing for his attention [with Arsenal, Atletico, Monaco, Villarreal and Wolfsburg], the Old Lady had to be realistic about her chances. In the end, she got her man. Her heart didn’t rule her head on this one though. They were in complete agreement with each other.

Morata, still only 21, is the one with whom Juventus want to build a future. He has put pen to paper on a five-year contract. Bought for €20m [a fee to be paid in instalments over the next three seasons], he is also the biggest signing of the Andrea Agnelli and Marotta era at the club.

Throughout the negotiations it became clear Real were reluctant to allow Morata to leave the Bernabèu. Not wishing to look like they don’t know a good thing until it’s gone, they insisted upon the inclusion of an option in the deal underlining their awareness and appreciation of his talent and potential. As was the case when Dani Carvajal was sold to Bayer Leverkusen for €5m then re-signed a year later for €6.5m, Real can buy Morata back. But the terms are less favourable. The clause is only activational at the end of the 2015-16 and 2016-17 seasons and he will cost them €30m [depending, that is, on appearances and other performance related variables].

It’s a measure of the regard in which he is held and of course if in the meantime Morata ‘explodes’ that figure could represent a bargain. Juventus are trusting that in such an eventuality competition for places up front at Real will be as fierce in two or three years’ time as it is now and they won’t have need of him. Morata appeared in 28 games for the European champions last season, including the Champions League final against Atletico in Lisbon, but he only started on four occasions and finished two - averaging 23 minutes.

A desire to play more was the principal motivation behind this ambitious youngster’s decision to move. He should get that satisfaction at Juventus. Fabio Quagliarella has followed Mirko Vucinic out of the club [crossing the city divide and reuniting with Torino], meaning there’ll be plenty of opportunities [even if another striker is brought in amid rumours of Juventus loaning either Stevan Jovetic or Romelu Lukaku].

By giving Morata the prestigious No. 9 shirt as vacated by the Al-Jazira bound Vucinic and previously worn by the likes of John Charles, Paolo Rossi, Gianluca Vialli, Pippo Inzaghi and Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Juventus have indicated that they expect him to be a big player for the club. In Spain Morata was considered the heir to Raúl. As a kid he idolised the Real No.7. Posters of him decorated Morata’s bedroom walls. His career path offered signs that it was his destiny to follow in his footsteps. Like Raúl, he started out at Atletico and was cut. And like him, he made his debut for Real at the Romareda against Zaragoza. It explains his popularity among the fans, the clamour for him to play under Jose Mourinho, and why the club were conflicted about selling him.

A member of the Spain squads that triumphed at the Under-19 and Under-21 European Championships, he won the Golden Boot at both tournaments. His performances last summer really caught the eye. Morata featured from kick off only twice in Israel, emerging from the bench in Spain’s other three games but scoring four goals, averaging one every 62.5 minutes.

In limited time, Morata knows how to seize his moment and make a decisive impact. Eight of his nine goals for Real last season came following his introduction as a substitute. Only one came before the 75th minute.

Which brings us back to his ratios. At 69.9 his minutes per goal average was the fastest in La Liga among forwards with 20 or more appearances, ahead of teammate Cristiano Ronaldo [81.9], Lionel Messi  [89.4] and Diego Costa [109.4]. Some believe he will be a super sub for Juventus, a first alternative to compatriot Fernando Llorente. After all, why break up his partnership with Carlos Tevez, the most prolific in Serie A last season and a combination that produced 35 goals? But what if they could all play together?

Of the many layers to Juventus’ transfer strategy [which include identifying and recruiting the best young talent around - for examples just see the deals done for Paul Pogba and Domenico Berardi in the past and Stefano Sturaro, Kingsley Coman and Morata in the present], the focus this summer has seemed to be on equipping the team to play 4-3-3.

Morata played out wide in this system for Real’s reserve team Castilla. “I wanted to play centre-forward for them,” he told El País, “and Alberto Toril [the coach] often put me on the flank. Now I have to thank him for having the confidence to put me there in the belief that I could do well because now I can play in the middle or in almost all forward positions.” It remains to be seen what Massimiliano Allegri’s intentions are for Juventus. Some observers have speculated that he will play a 4-3-1-2 as he did in his title-winning season at Milan with Paul Pogba or Arturo Vidal [providing one or the other stays] deployed in the Kevin-Prince Boateng role. But integrating Morata will be high on his agenda.

Tall, able to play with his back to goal, then turn and run at defenders, he naturally has presence in the area, provides a threat in the air and shares more similarities with Fernando Morientes than Raúl even if another of his former youth team coaches claims he is “more complete. Better with his feet.”

Morata’s detractors point out that his goals have come in thrashings against modest opponents [Betis, Almeria, Espanyol, Rayo Vallecano and Levante] and that he benefits from playing for a team with great quality that creates a lot of openings [like Juventus]. Still his numbers impress. No striker in La Liga came close to his shot accuracy [61.5%]. Only Ronaldo averaged fewer minutes per shot [11.8 compared to 14.3].

Whether Morata can replicate that in Serie A [where defending isn’t what it used to be] and how he adapts [Llorente required time to adjust, the caveat being he needed defrosting after a year out in the cold at Athletic Bilbao] will be an intriguing storyline to follow. There’s a lot of excitement about Morata. News that he twisted his knee after a clash with Rubinho in training on Monday, an injury that rules him out for at least a month was taken as another sign of how ill-fated this season is already beginning to look for Juventus after Antonio Conte’s resignation. The Old Lady hopes a scan reveals no serious ligament damage. She has a new toy boy and can’t wait to step out with him.

Should Morata be used from kick-off or as an impact sub at Juventus? Let us know in the comments below